Top Gun 51 Profile: Vendasta’s George Leith on the IT/Telecom Channel

George Leith, chief customer officer and executive vice president of sales for Vendasta, has been described as tireless in his devotion to and engagement with the channel. Because of this, he has driven his entire organization to create the right platform and services to allow the IT and telecom channel to get a leg up in an increasingly digital world.

Leith’s track record of success in technology, media, channel sales models and marketing spans 35 years. He has served eight of those in sales leadership roles at Vendasta. Currently, Leith is responsible for ensuring the success of Vendasta’s global stable of vendors, channel partners and end users. In addition to recruiting, training and ongoing performance management of the internal team, he’s also a mentor; specifically, the ever-growing base of business owners, sales leaders, and sales professionals who make up the more than 28,000 channel partner companies Vendasta serves.

Those are the things distributors, master agents and industry analysts are saying about him. We solicited input from these industry players to compile our Top Gun 51 for 2020. That’s because they know channel executives best.

Vendasta’s George Leith

According to Leith, the channel comes first in deal-registration processes and partners are to be fairly compensated. With a focus on recurring revenue growth year-over-year and optimizing growth models, Leith believes in servant leadership and coaching frameworks as the best way to motivate and improve performance inside an organization.

Channel Futures: What attributes do you think next-gen channel leaders must have?

George Leith: Innovation, agility, drive and integrity. It really is that simple.

CF: You have driven your entire organization to create the right platform and services to boost the IT/telecom channel. Can you expand upon that?

GL: We are very excited to enter the channel in the past year. Now, Vendasta sits at the intersection of technology, trust and need! Our 12-year history is a road map of innovation, drive and a relentless focus on customer satisfaction. 

CF: If you could give one piece of advice to partners, what would it be?

GL: Think outside the box always; the innovators will survive and thrive. Do not stand still. Always be innovating and looking for the next opportunity. Indeed, it is an amazing time to be in business. The digital transformation of customers is driving everyone to rethink the way they do business.

CF: Any other thoughts on this award?

GL: It is a huge honor to be selected in this group. Our entire company shares this award. It spurs the daily drive and focus toward our vendors, channel partners and their end-users success.